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4/10/12

Front Range Equine Rescue Discovers New Mexico Horse Slaughter Plant

April 10, 2012 (Larkspur, Colorado) -- Through its own investigation, Front Range EquineRescue (FRER) has discovered that Valley Meats Co., 3845 Cedarvale Rd., in Roswell, NM, hasapplied for inspection of horses to be “custom slaughtered” and “processed” for humanconsumption. According to the facts uncovered, the facility has been involved in extendeddiscussions with the Denver office of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The FSISinspects animals and meat in American slaughterhouses under the auspices of the U.S.Department of Agriculture.

Horse slaughter for food is a national disgrace, given the iconic nature of American horses andthe especially brutal methods used to kill them. FRER has mounted an extensive legal battle tokeep American horses from being slaughtered for food, in or out of the country, in light of lastNovember’s Congressional appropriation of funding for horse meat inspections. In the last threeweeks, along with the Humane Society of the United States, FRER has filed two Petitions forRule-making [http://frontrangeequinerescue.org/front-range-equine-rescue-horse-slaughter.php],asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the FSIS to enact rules and regulationswhich would prevent American horses from being slaughtered. The Petitions have gottensignificant attention, and FRER intends to continue to amplify its legal strategy for as long as ittakes to eliminate the possibility of horse slaughter in America.

If it is allowed to open, the Roswell plant would be the first U.S. horse slaughterhouse openedsince horse slaughter in the U.S. ended five years ago. A recent poll shows at least 80% ofAmericans oppose horse slaughter. Valley Meats and any other horse slaughterhouses must bestopped, and the USDA and FDA must see the danger and illegality of producing horse meatfrom American horses. FRER calls on all concerned citizens and groups, in and out of NewMexico, to support its efforts by contacting state, local and federal officials and voicing yourstrong objection to the resumption of this horrific practice in America. For more information onhow to help, contact info@frontrangeequinerescue.com.

2 comments:

Can you please help me? I can't find a link to contact you directly, so sorry for posting here. I have found a "rescue" that is selling the animals it rescues to a horse meat dealer & shipping them off to Japan, but no one is doing anything, the lady who is doing it: Her husband is the investigating officer who seizes the animals, & they are bulletproof. They get about 10 to 16K when they take horses from a seizure, they get grants from the city shelter, & then they sell the horses for meat. They have taken in 417 animals & only adopted out 32, so 385 animals have went to slaughter, possibly a lot more because they collect the free horses from craigslist & run ads looking for free horses as well. I have done several stories about it, here is my last one. Who do I call about this? What do I do? Please help me if you can. Thank you, Brandia